Anyone use Mopads?

[scootermaster]

So, I have a little bit of a predicament....

I have these new Arx A1 speakers -- which are amazing, BTW -- on an Ikea jerker desk.
Now, the desk is clear on the right, but it is somewhat up against the left (and back) wall. Because of that, the speaker shelves (which swing in and out) can't be completely swung "out" (away from the desk. So they sort of tilt "in" toward the desk. No big whoop, EXCEPT I have a Macbook Pro on a laptop stand, which occupies the same space the shelf on the left wants to be at.

Pic:

The speakers are tilted downward with three CDs underneath them. You can see the corner on the left, and how the swing shelves are tilted inward a little, and where the laptop has to live.


So, I have two choices:

1). Sorta re-arrange my room so I can move the entire desk to the right, so those swing shelves can be completely in-line with the desk (not swung "in"). (I.e. create more clearance between the desk and the wall, which would be then filled by the width of the shelf). This would allow them to be placed vertically in the sweet spot, and take the shelf area out of the desk airspace, meaning my laptop stand can be there on the left unimpeded. This is good in that the speakers are vertically aligned, but bad in that the speakers are farther apart (from each other) than they are already. I also have to move some crap around in my room (which is not a deal breaker, but undesirable).

or

2). Leave the desk where it is, but raise the swing shelves, meaning my laptop can go under the shelves. This is good because I don't have to rearrange my room, and it keeps the speakers closer together, but bad because now the speakers aren't vertically aligned correctly.

So, one possible solution to #2 are Mopads, which would point downward (in addition to, you know, sound isolation and all that).

Do people recommend them?

And when you buy a set for the ridiculous price of $37 or whatever, how many do you get?

I ask because they're 4" wide, and my speakers are exactly 7". There's simply no way I'm spending $75 on a bunch of foam. But on the other hand, having my speakers bleed over the end of these things would probably drive me crazy from an anal-retentive standpoint (as would stacking two side-by-side, and having the pads dwarf the speakers).

Any thoughts?

 

[Aluvus]

And when you buy a set for the ridiculous price of $37 or whatever, how many do you get?

Amazon lists them as $36 for "1 pair".

Is there any reason the speakers *have* to be on the swing arms?

 

[viivo]

Have you thought about arranging so the speakers are further away and apart? Unless they are nearfield I can't imagine they sound good being 2 feet away, monitors or not.

 

[scootermaster]

Have you thought about arranging so the speakers are further away and apart? Unless they are nearfield I can't imagine they sound good being 2 feet away, monitors or not.

Well, the instruction manual -- and my experience -- said that the speakers, if at all possible should be closer together than the distance to the listener. Which, yes, implies they're not near field. But they'll work great, otherwise. So putting them farther away isn't really going to fix anything in and of itself.

Amazon lists them as $36 for "1 pair".

Is there any reason the speakers *have* to be on the swing arms?

Nope, other than it's the only way to get them at anywhere near ear level (when I'm sitting down). They could go on the shelf on the top of the desk, but that's probably something like 6' in the air, and I'm not sure that's a practical solution.

I checked out some Mopads at a Sam Ash. Luckily, the "set" they sell (for $44, hopefully the same as the one Amazon sells for $36) comes with four pads (plus the wedges to control angle). That's at least a relief.

 

[JSt0rm]

I use them on all my speakers. They decouple the speaker from your surface. They come with a bunch of wedges so you can point them up down or straight ahead.

 

[gorb]

I use them as well. They are good for me because I needed to angle my speakers up slightly and my desk is plastic so without them it was kind of annoying (vibrations and the like). Speakerdudes are another similar product from auralex that you might want to look at.

Aayway, a much cheaper alternative to the mopads can be found here:
http://www.thefoamfactory.com/acousticfoam/accessories.html

I've not used them, but I'm sure they're fine

 

[JSt0rm]

I use them as well. They are good for me because I needed to angle my speakers up slightly and my desk is plastic so without them it was kind of annoying (vibrations and the like). Speakerdudes are another similar product from auralex that you might want to look at.

Aayway, a much cheaper alternative to the mopads can be found here:
http://www.thefoamfactory.com/acousticfoam/accessories.html

I've not used them, but I'm sure they're fine

lmao knock offs. Im sure those will be fine. The foam may deteriorate faster as its probably not as dense but whatever.

Here are expensive ones for completeness

http://www.primacoustic.com/recoil.htm

 

[gorb]

The foam is probably just as decent as the auralex stuff I've seen the primacoustic pads. They do look nice but they are definitely overpriced.

 

[ICXRa]

I use them as well. They are good for me because I needed to angle my speakers up slightly and my desk is plastic so without them it was kind of annoying (vibrations and the like). Speakerdudes are another similar product from auralex that you might want to look at.

Aayway, a much cheaper alternative to the mopads can be found here:
http://www.thefoamfactory.com/acousticfoam/accessories.html

I've not used them, but I'm sure they're fine

Hah, someone finally made some knock offs. I'm sure they are fine as well, just no Auralex logo's. I have them on my center, monitors, and smaller subs. They do work, but I wouldn't imagine any better than these cheaper models. When I purchased mine, I bought a bulk pack, and sold my boss a pair. A pair is two pads, two for each speaker that is, or at least it was when I bought them. If you don't have vibration issues, go to the hardware aisle at walmart and pick up the appropriate size (angle) "door stop" and carpet tape some felt to them if necessary. You can get the door stops from the regular size to the big mega size anywhere from a buck or so a piece, up to $5 to achieve downward angle, if that's all your going for.

The decoupling feature is nice, but unless your really bass heavy, you may not notice a great deal of difference. I've got a couple 10" subs stacked, and decoupled from the floor, as well as each other with mopads. They walk in scenes with heavy LFE!

 

[gorb]

I use an auralex gramma under my sub, but it wasn't really for decoupling/isolation/whatever. I just wanted to use it as a riser. It just seemed like the driver could hit the carpet (downfiring sub) and that bothered me. Probably never actually happened though. Oh well

 

[ICXRa]

I was going to use a gramma, but it's larger than my sub footprint, and space is a premium in this room. This is pretty much "my" room, and has my secondary HT setup in it, and is a bonus room over our garage, so decoupling was necessary. I believe I used three mopads under each sub.

 

[gorb]

Did you see if a subdude would work for you? It's somewhat smaller than the gramma. If you have tools, a bit of time, and the desire, you could easily build something similar for much less of course. I don't have any tools (or space/a workroom) and I'm super lazy so I'm not really down to DIY anything

 

[ICXRa]

Did you see if a subdude would work for you? It's somewhat smaller than the gramma. If you have tools, a bit of time, and the desire, you could easily build something similar for much less of course. I don't have any tools (or space/a workroom) and I'm super lazy so I'm not really down to DIY anything

The dude was closer, but I already had the mopads, and I really didn't want to dump more money into an already poor purchase decision. These are really small subs, the ULW-10 MLS edition from the now defunct AV123. These had the "monster" amp that worked great, while it worked anyway.

 

[gorb]

Ah. Makes sense then. I've got a pair of ELT525 mini monitors in the living room that have maybe 6 hours of use lol. Great little speakers though. Too bad MLS was such a crook.